Despite being in a more academic setting, I feel that a phrase commonly used in sports would be a useful device in describing the “ailment” which most seniors face at some point. An ailment which most refer to as senioritis. The saying reads a little something like this: “finish strong”. A simple one, I know, but it does the job. It is this “finishing”, or in a senior’s instance a lack thereof, that causes most seniors to come down with the prevalent disease.
This disease can be traced back to the origins of modern schooling, and has been targeting the minds, as well as the grades or children for over centuries. Common symptoms may include laziness, excessive partying, a lack of classroom compliance, disengagement in class, and a lack of completion of assignments among other things. It is said that the cause of the disease has direct links with either fatigue or laziness; students who are nearing the end of the school year typically yearn so badly for the end to come, that they somewhat delude themselves into thinking that they could still finish the school year without doing the necessary work.
Now in all seriousness, this “senioritis” is a legitimate problem amongst children in schools. The saddest part only being realized when you take into consideration the mounds, and mounds of work they completed throughout their high school years, all this work essentially goes up in flames due to laziness and a lack of foresight. “Yeah, it's important to finish well, but there's not even enough assignments to hurt your grade anyways.” This was what senior Lionel Nelson had to say about the concept of finishing out the year for some of his classes. It seems as though many seniors tend to check out when they get their acceptance letters from colleges. Surely acceptances can't be revoked right? Sadly, that's not the case. Though it may happen in far less abundance, there have been instances where the colleges revoked the acceptances of students due to bad grades their senior year. And though it may seem unfair, it is clearly stated on every acceptance letter a student may receive. When told about this fact, senior Kameron King had this to say, “Yeah, probably should’ve told me that before the beginning of this year. I didn’t know that though.” Clearly this is a fact which has gone mostly unknown. The acceptance is only contingent upon the completion of your senior year. Now if reading this scares you, then congratulations, you’re human. But, if you want to build an immunity to this “senioritis”, it's important that you follow these steps.
- First, make sure that you stay motivated. Understand that unless you buckle down, and finish the year, you will not be attending college.
- Secondly, don’t overstrain yourself. It’s important to stay sharp, but not too sharp; mental strain is a real thing.
- And lastly, try not to focus on the clock, or in this case the calendar. The concept of time seeming to pass slower when you pay attention to it is a legitimate one. But with that in mind, you should be fine. Just remember that all the work you’ve done over the last 4 years isn’t worth a couple weeks of freedom.